Navs Win Game One, Split Twinbill at Keene

KEENE, N.H. — The North Shore Navigators received strong pitching performances all night and hit two home runs on the way to a victory as they split a Thursday doubleheader of New England Collegiate Baseball League action on Thursday night at Alumni Field.

North Shore (7-9) emerged victorious in Keene for the first time since 2023 with a 4-3 victory to open the day before dropping a 3-2, walk-off decision in the nightcap.

Game 1: North Shore 4, Keene 3

Three hits were just enough for the Navs to break their three-game skid, as former Hamilton-Wenham star Gian Gamelli (Notre Dame) and Thomas Mahoney (Northeastern) combined for strong work on the mound. Gamelli pitched 5.2 innings of two-run ball with five strikeouts en route to his first win before Mahoney worked the final 1.1 for a save.

A pair of home runs fueled the offense. Third baseman Maddix Simpson (Ohio State) opened the scoring with a solo shot in the second inning, while Byfield native center fielder Hunter Kingsbury's (Bryant) no-doubt, three-run blast in the third stood as the big blow.

After Gamelli struck out back-to-back batters and benefited from a 4-6-3 double play behind him in the first two innings, respectively, North Shore broke a four-up, four-down start in a big way in its half of the second. Simpson tagged SwampBat starter Jack Davis (UNC Asheville) for a one-out solo homer to left.

The third saw both teams put up crooked numbers. Three consecutive hits with two outs moved Keene in front for the first time, including first baseman Jackson Marshall's (UConn) two-RBI double inside the third-base line.

The Navs quickly reclaimed the lead in their half of the third, with right fielder Danny Flynn (Northeastern) sparking the offense with a one-out single through the right side and a stolen base of second. Shortstop Michael Brown (Hofstra) then drew a walk before both runners were balked into scoring position. Two batters later, Kingsbury ambushed a first pitch for a two-out, three-run homer to deep left-center field.

Gamelli protected North Shore's lead into the penultimate frame, working around a pair of hit batters in the fourth and dealt a 1-2-3 fifth. In the sixth, the southpaw's day ended after back-to-back, two-out walks, but Mahoney induced an inning-ending fly ball on his first pitch.

Mahoney shook off Keene shortstop Collin Anderson's (Duke) one-out homer over the left-field wall in the seventh. After Marshall's bid for a game-tying solo shot landed just foul in left, the Navs reliever dialed back for a strikeout to retire the side and clinch the victory.

Game 2: Keene 3, North Shore 2

A day filled with strong pitching continued with Robert Brown III (Penn State) striking out seven while allowing just one run on three hits across the first five innings. 

The North Shore bats built leads of 1-0 on first baseman Anderson French's (Dallas Baptist) RBI double in the third and 2-1 on third baseman Tyler Shulman's (Harvard) solo homer in the sixth, but designated hitter Jackson Smith (Cincinnati) hit a two-run homer in the seventh to lift Keene to the walk-off win.

Following up his NECBL Player of the Week performance from a week ago, shortstop Hudson Ellis (Oral Roberts) reached base in all four of his plate appearances and scored a run. 

Brown stranded five SwampBats through the first two innings of his gritty start, setting the stage for the first run of the game. The North Andover native erased back-to-back leadoff baserunners with two strikeouts to end the first and also escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second. 

In the third, a pair of North Shore walks were taken off on the basepaths, but Ellis restarted the offense with a two-out free pass. He then stole second, advanced to third on a subsequent throwing error and scored on French's line double down the line in right.

The only run that Brown allowed came on a leadoff solo homer by Keene center fielder Chris Polemeni (UConn) in the fourth. Brown induced a double play and a pop fly to limit the damage in that inning and then struck out three in a row after allowing a walk and a hit to begin the fifth.

Keene reliever Andrew Lepine (UCF) fanned the first two batters of North Shore's fifth, but Shulman flipped the score with a mighty swing of the bat towards the scoreboard in right-center field.

In the SwampBats' half of the sixth, Revere native and St. Mary's grad Jack Zimmerman (Dayton) worked around a leadoff walk to strike out two before catcher Aidan Sengenberger (Seton Hall) caught Polemeni stealing to end the inning.

Zimmerman opened the bottom of the seventh with a strikeout before Anderson doubled and Smith homered for the walk-off finish. 

The Navs return to Fraser Field for a Friday night matchup against the South Division-leading Martha's Vineyard Sharks. First pitch is slated for 6:05 p.m.